Netflix’s new series, Nobody Wants This, has captured global attention with its unique premise: a romance between Rabbi Noah Rocklov (Adam Brody) and Joanne (Kristen Bell), an agnostic sex podcast host. Created by Erin Foster, herself a Jewish convert, the show follows their unlikely connection despite their vastly different backgrounds.

The show’s popularity transcends cultural boundaries, ranking first on Netflix in many Muslim countries including Lebanon (currently at war with Israel), Turkey, and the UAE. It holds strong positions in Bahrain (2nd), Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, as well as Qatar (3rd), Morocco (4th), and Saudi Arabia and Oman (5th). It also tops charts in Israel, the United States, Canada, Iceland, Nigeria, Ukraine, Germany, and numerous other countries.

While some critics have suggested that the show contains antisemitic elements, particularly in its portrayal of Jewish women, this criticism doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Rabbi Lexi Erdheim, a Reform Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, NC, acknowledges some “tired tropes,” but maintains that “the depictions are not egregious enough that it would make me turn off the show. There is enough humanization of Jewish characters, and the show grapples with questions and shares a lot of richness about Judaism that I can see past the tropes.”

Screen Rant writer Dani Kessle Odom points out that even Esther (Jackie Thon), who the show’s writers demonize as the main antagonist to Joanne, is shown as a supportive wife, caring mother, and loyal friend, demonstrating the show’s nuanced character portrayal of even the most antagonistic of the Jewish women.

The show’s relationship with Judaism is notably well-informed, with former Wilshire Boulevard Temple Senior Rabbi Steve Leder serving as rabbinical consultant. The series deliberately maintains ambiguity about Noah’s specific Jewish denomination, featuring Conservative prayer books in the Temple, while showing practices more aligned with Reform Judaism.

The show portrays several concepts that are central to Judaism and Jewish practice, and it does so in a touching and positive manner, making it more an expression of philosemitism than antisemitism.

Noah is described as being a truly good person. We see time and again, that Noah is kind, considerate, and endearing, often caring about others far more than himself, which makes him the positive foil to the self-centered tropes of the majority of the other characters (both Jewish and non-Jewish alike). To him, the position of a community Rabbi, regardless of which denomination of Judaism he comes from, means serving the community and working to help others achieve their own spiritual goals and guide them to a more fulfilled life.

As the show progresses and Noah gets caught up in his own ambition and dream to become the head rabbi of his congregation, It is surprisingly Joanne, his non-Jewish love interest, who teaches him about being honest with one’s self as well as others. This becomes a turning point, where Noah recognizes that she can help him become a better rabbi, a better person, and help people, something which he views as one of the highest ideals and which ultimately brings him closer to her.

The interfaith issue:

Interfaith marriage in Judaism carries varying degrees of taboo, with Orthodox communities potentially shunning or excommunicating those who intermarry, sometimes extending consequences to their families. While Conservative Judaism is less strict, most of its rabbis won’t perform interfaith ceremonies. Reform and Reconstructionist movements are more lenient, though traditionally their rabbis have avoided officiating interfaith marriages. A significant shift occurred when the Reform rabbinical school Hebrew Union College announced in June 2024 that rabbinical students in interfaith relationships could study for ordination, provided they commit to maintaining Jewish households.

As Rabbi Erdheim noted, “If one spouse is a rabbi then you would expect the household to be Jewish. If you’ve chosen to dedicate your personal and professional life to leading the Jewish people, then you would have a Jewish home.” However, clergy are still held to stricter standards than congregants, and in many communities, it is still taboo for a rabbi to be in an interfaith relationship — a central tension that drives the show’s plot.

The pork issue:

Orthodox Jews strictly avoid pork as non-kosher. For further elucidation on this please see this article: Reform Jews generally disregard kosher laws — except for the clergy. Rabbi Erdheim added, “It’s a complex question and the Reform community runs the gamut of kashrut observance from observing the laws, to not observing them.”

The wine issue:

In the first episode, Noah insists on opening Joanne’s wine bottle despite her offers to help — a scene that appears to showcase his chivalry but inadvertently touches on a deeper Jewish law. Orthodox Jews won’t drink uncooked wine touched or poured by non-Jews. This is a 1,800-year-old rule stemming from concerns about wine used in idol worship called [Stam Yainam]. Though Joanne is merely agnostic, Noah deftly navigates the potentially awkward moment with self-deprecating charm. As Rabbi Erdheim notes, while Reform rabbis are aware of this law, most don’t observe it: “I would be shocked to encounter a Reform rabbi who has a problem if a non-Jew poured them wine nowadays.”

Wrestling with God:

Again in the first episode, Noah tells Joanne that “baked into the Jewish experience is the concept of wrestling with what God is or isn’t and not knowing.” This is a long-standing concept in Judaism dating back to the term Israel itself, which comes from Genesis 32:28, where an Angel gives Jacob the name Yisrael because he struggled [sarita] with God [‘elohim] and with humans and has prevailed.” Since then, Jews have always struggled with the concept of what God is or isn’t and how best to worship God leading to a multiplicity of views, understandings, arguments, and acceptance of living in a state of uncertainty.

Shabbat Candles:

The concept of lighting candles at the beginning of Shabbat can be dated back to the end of the Second Temple. In Episode 5, Noah explains to Joanne that there are different interpretations of the two-candle custom. While commonly representing either the dual commandments “keep” (Shamor) and “remember” (Zachor) the Shabbat, or representing both spouses, Noah shares a lesser-known meaning: the candles symbolize the two destroyed Temples, suggesting Shabbat’s eternal nature transcends physical structures. This interpretation, cited by Rabbi Efraim Palvanov, traces back to the 13th-century Baal Haturim (Rabbi Jacob Ben Asher), who connects the Shabbat candles to the Temples’ eternal light (Ner Hatamid) and that continuing to light Shabbat candles carries on the concept of the eternal light from the Temples. Interestingly enough, this is something that I, a practicing Jew my entire life, was unaware of and only learned after investigating the statement that Noah made in the show.

Judaism is a unified nuanced religion

Judaism is a nuanced religion, with a lot of people who are uninformed about those nuances, how many streams of Judaism there are, and how each one tries to keep the beauty of the religion in the modern world. Even in Orthodoxy, there are hundreds of different styles and permutations of customs, communities, and identifying factors. What unifies us, is that we all strive to find the value of our voice and purpose within the religion, to continue to pass on the gifts and wisdom that we were given in our heritage, and use them to build a better world for our children and be a light unto the nations. There are also some external aspects that unify us, among them in a negative context is antisemitism, which affects all Jews regardless of their belief or with which segment of Judaism they identify.

It is certainly a struggle, and often the message of Jewish wisdom gets diluted, confused, or scorned by those we wish would receive it. Yet the struggle continues. In the words of one of my former mentors Rabbi Nathan Lopez Cardozo, the concept of Jewish faith is to struggle with Judaism and with God, and learn to live with that continuous struggle while constantly striving to improve upon the world.

I believe that this is a concept that the show embodies as well, in its context, while sharing some of the beauty of Jewish culture, heritage, wisdom, and messages to the world, so that we can continue to engage with each other, be kind and honest people, and continue to grow while helping others around us grow and be better as well. This is indeed a far cry from being antisemitic, which some have erroneously claimed the show to be.

Raphael Poch is a religious Orthodox Jewish husband and father. He works as the Senior Manager of PR for Aish and moonlights as a journalist, improviser, and theater aficionado. He currently lives with his family in Efrat, Israel.

The post Nobody Wants This, Except the Audience — A Jewish Perspective on Netflix’s Latest Hit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.